Wicked
I’ve watched bits and pieces of Wicked (the movie), but the one thing I can say about that movie is that it’s beautiful. It’s so visually stimulating with all of the bright colors, creative scenes, and artistic outfits for each character. The songs are catchy and fun. It’s a great movie, for sure. However, there has been something about that movie that has been bothering me that I just could never put my finger on. Until just recently.
Misunderstood
There have actually been several recent movies out that have all had similar themes. The “wicked” person is just misunderstood. For example, Elphiba (in the movie Wicked) is actually a good witch on the inside! Apparently, Cruella‘s mother was killed by Dalmations. Thus her hatred for puppies and obsession for skinning helpless puppies. Or what about The Descendants? As one of the songs says, “It’s good to be bad!” To be fair, it’s a really fun movie with great music and singing. But their thieving and bad attitudes are excused away, as they dance and sing their way into our hearts. Yeah, they’re bad but it all makes sense! They had terrible parents!
These movies are subtly communicating to us that we shouldn’t judge “wicked” people. It’s not fair, since clearly they must all have good excuses to be bad. The “bad guys” on screen, or to make a logical connection, in our neighborhood, or in our country are actually misunderstood and in all reality, they’re good. This is what many of the judges in our courts believe, judging by the number of times some of these criminals are arrested but never actually sent to jail despite the overwhelming evidence they should never be allowed in public. Blurring the lines of good and bad is apparently one of the values of our current culture.
Not one good, no not one
As I was thinking about this, of course I realize that really none of us are good (Romans 3:10-12). We are well represented by the Ying Yang – even in the best of people, there’s a little bad, and even in the worst of people, there’s a little good. We are made in the image of God, so although we are marred by sin, we still can reflect certain attributes of God that are good, beautiful, and true. In other words, there is some truth in what these movies are communicating.
Not their fault
But here’s the rub. The characters who previously were portrayed negatively because they made bad choices are now excused from their bad choices because they were victims themselves. They couldn’t help making those bad choices. And what it comes down to is that we can all resonate with the idea of having our sins overlooked or excused because we have been sinned against. Best of all, we wouldn’t need to repent, since technically according to this mentality, it’s someone else’s fault. Not ours.
In the past, characters who made bad choices were seen very negatively. Matt Walsh talked about how Cruella DeVille was described in a song as being an awful person. Because she WAS an awful person. But now, she’s described in a way that makes her likable and relatable, and we can understand why she behaves so heinously.
Les Mis
One of my favorite books ever is Les Miserables. And one of the things I love about it is that the author, Victor Hugo, was able to create characters in his book that were so realistic, across the entire French culture at the time of the French Revolution. Rich or poor and everything in between, he showed how vices are prevalent no matter how wealthy or poor you are. And he also showed how nobility and grace can be seen no matter how wealthy or poor you are.
But what he did not do was celebrate or excuse bad choices (i.e. sin). He wrote about how the consequences of our bad choices can cause us to suffer greatly. However, Hugo would never have had, for example, Javier, the archnemesis of Jean Val Jean, portrayed in a positive light. He would never have excused his spiteful, vengeful behavior in order to gain sympathy from his audience. No matter what his past experiences were.
Good, beautiful, and true
What is good, beautiful, and true is when someone chooses to do what’s right despite their circumstances. That is what we should admire and what calls us to live up to a higher standard. We should never accept or excuse wicked choices in the name of compassion. That in and of itself is wicked.
A poignant and fitting parallel can be found in what is currently happening right now between Candace Owens and Erika Kirk (Brandon Tatum has a good breakdown of the latest of what’s happened). Erika Kirk has been conducting herself with grace, courage, and extreme fortitude. I completely believe that strength is supernatural, and can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit working strongly within her. She truly is an incredible woman of God who has been and continues to be tested to the absolute limit, considering all she’s been through. Kirk is someone we should all look up to as an example of someone who personifies what is good, beautiful, and true, despite her circumstances.
Owens on the other hand, continues to launch unfounded, unsubstantiated, and wild accusations towards multiple people. She maintains she’s being Charlie’s friend, and she wants to find answers as to why he was killed. But there is no excuse for her ugly behavior. In past videos, she vows to stop all of her investigations if only Charlie’s wife would ask her to. So now, Erika Kirk asks her to, and not only does she say no, but she actually mocks her understandably emotional petition for all of the attacks and accusations to stop. We should never excuse or glorify this kind of behavior, no matter what the circumstances are.
Make true heroes great again!
Let’s make true heroes great again! We have so many fantastic ones to choose from, starting with the saints who have gone before us. Many can be found in the Word of God (Joseph, Paul, Peter, Mary, etc), and others who are more contemporary have incredible biographies.
At the end of the day, I pray we keep our heads on straight and discern who we should be looking up to and why. Keep us strong in Your Truth, Father God!
One more thing
Here’s another friendly reminder! Don’t forget to get the Mamas and Dads in your life our awesome Christmas bundles! They’re the perfect gift, especially for those who love great books, fantastic coffee with a purpose, and an awesome mug to drink said coffee out of.
Click on the images below to purchase one of our Christmas bundles!
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